Gretchen Wilson Recalls Feeling Very Out of Place at Her First CMA Awards

It's been 10 years since Gretchen Wilson took the country music world by storm with her debut album, 'Here for the Party,' and in an interview with Taste of Country during 2014 CMA Awards week, the star shares memories of her very first CMAs.

Wilson won the Horizon Award (now Best New Artist) in 2004 after bursting onto the scene with her career-defining debut single, 'Redneck Woman.'

"I just remember how nervous I was," she tells ToC's Billy Dukes.

"I didn't feel like I fit in. When you're just a little ol' trailer park, small town USA girl, you just kinda get that feeling that you ain't supposed to be here. These people are all different from me. Everybody just seemed classier than me ..." Wilson recalls. "You ever walked into some place where you're supposed to have on a suit and tie, and you're like, 'Ooh, I don't fit in here'? Well, that's kinda how I felt, I think, for the first little while. It took me a while to adjust to the industry."

Wilson has just released a new live CD/DVD titled 'STILL Here for the Party,' which celebrates the tenth anniversary of her debut album. The lead single, 'Chariot,' features her daughter, Grace.

"She was only four years old when I recorded that song the first time, and it was one that we didn't ever get around to releasing on the first album," she observes. "As we were putting this together, I asked her ... 'cause I always felt awkward about doing the rap in the middle of that song. It always made me feel a little bit uncomfortable, and since she's 13, I asked her if she would be willing to do that in the live DVD, and she said, 'Sure, no problem.'"

"But now, of course, in hindsight, she's like, 'Oh, Mommmm ... I don't want anyone to see it!'" Wilson adds with a laugh. "'Can we not show it to anyone?' I'm like, 'Ah, it's a little late for that.'"